The Dangers of Consuming Rubbing Alcohol or Methylated Spirit, Understanding the Risks and Health Implications

Did you remember the post I wrote some days back on Alcohol and its effect on the body? Today, I decided to ask what happens if I decide to drink methylated spirit or rubbing alcohol instead of the usual alcohol. So, join me on this post, and let's have a methylated. somewhat intoxicated post.

_Wikimedia

It is a Friday and you are supposed to be at the club. You know your drink and do not joke with having ethanol in your system unless you are at work. On days that are not weekends, you spend 4 hours after work having 4 to 5 bottles of beer, but on weekends, you prefer to have spirits. You like vodka, gin, tequila, or any other alcohol that is above 15% by volume but this time, you do not have enough cash to go out, so you decided to use that rubbing alcohol or methylated spirit at home to keep the party going. You add some drops of lime or lemon or just mix it with soda drinks for taste and down it is into your body. To you, you just prepared a wonderful cocktail that will keep you for the night but in reality, you just prepared something that can potentially end your life and get you to the hospital.

Let me reiterate that there are two types of alcohol that can be bought in the market, the one that can be drunk which consists of all the types of alcohol that you know, and the one that is used for cleaning. While they both contain ethanol which makes it consumable, cleaning alcohol contains something different that makes it harmful to the body. Isopropyl alcohol, rubbing alcohol, or methylated spirit, as you might call it has a bitter agent called Denatonium Benzoate and a poisonous agent Methanol. Yes, it contains methanol and not just ethanol but that isn't the end. That rubbing alcohol that you see, contains propanol also known as Isopropyl alcohol. Depending on the brand or country, so many people do not add Denatonium Benzoate or methanol since propanol itself is not safe to consume. Depending on the manufacturer, the rubbing alcohol might contain 70% isopropyl Alcohol or more. The one I have at home has 88.02% isopropyl alcohol.

_Pixabay

Although, methanol is more poisonous isopropyl alcohol is also poisonous as well compared to ethanol. Let's not forget that I mentioned in my last post that ethanol itself is metabolized into acetaldehyde which is also poisonous but if not taken in excess for a long period of time, it can be converted to acetic acid which is safe for the body but with Isopropyl alcohol, the body metabolizes it to acetone which is what is found in Nail polish remover, gel remover, and nitrocellulose thinner. In case you do not know, Acetone dissolves Styrofoam.

Acetone is toxic to the body when a few milliliters are consumed. It is a nervous system depressant and it has a narcotic-like effect on people that consume them. Research shows that acetone ingestion can result in Cardiac Arrest and Death. Acetone intake can lead to a low heart rate, slow breathing, reduction in blood circulation, a drop in temperature, coma, and possibly death. Well, you might be safe if it is quickly excreted as urine from the body.

For More Research

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^{https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8564060/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493181/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6069146/
https://aricjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13756-020-00788-5}